Cedar tops rival building materials in life cycle study

29 January, 2010

Western red cedar (WRC) has “substantially outperformed” other building materials in a cradle to grave life cycle assessment research project conducted by a leading forest research laboratory.

Canada-based FPInnovations-Forintek, which completed the research on behalf of the Western Red Cedar Lumber Association, tested WRC cladding and decking against wood-plastic composites, bricks, fibre-cement and vinyl.

The study was modelled on four life cycle stages: resource extraction and manufacturing; transportation to customer; installation and use; and landfilling, while products were measured against six criteria: raw material acquisition; energy use; carbon footprint; emissions to air, soil and water; and waste generation.

WRC decking was found to have by far the least environmental impact when compared with both virgin and recycled wood-plastic composite products, even when a “worst case” scenario was envisaged for the timber, allowing for replacement of 20% of the boards in normal service and periodic application of coatings.

WRC cladding performed best overall in comparison with vinyl and fibre-cement cladding and brick.

The Western Red Cedar Lumber Association said the product had already been a leading building product in terms of durability, beauty and value, but the latest research had added a fourth dimension.